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NGM.COM | JUNE2010
WHOOPING CRANE COUNT 68
R ED EMPTI ON IN SOUTH AFRICA 80
LAND OF THE TREE KANGAROO 110
CHINA'S TREASU RE CAVES 124
Greenland
GROUND ZERO FOR GLOBAL WARMING
Contact Us
Greenland
Your article showed the
challenges of agriculture in
Greenland. However, it's a bit
unfair to knock Greenland's
farms for importing fodder from
Europe. The European Union
is highly dependent on imports
for feeding its livestock. Over
50 percent of the EU's protein
feed is imported; it is largely
soybeans from the Americas.
Better that Greenlanders
develop their agriculture than
become dependent on drilling
for oil off the coast.
HERB S. ALDWINCKLE
Professor of Plant Pathology
Cornell University
Geneva, New York
While Greenland citizens'
optimistic view of oil and rare
earth profits is understandable,
it should be tempered by recent
realities. The deaths of miners
in China and West Virginia
and the disaster in the Gulf
of Mexico should warn of the
possible price. The thousand-
year tradition of fishing and
farming could end tragically,
with the newly wealthy popu-
lace sopping up oil or digging
out buried friends and relatives.
DALE BARTOLETTI
Salinas, California
China's Caves of Faith
To the foreign curators who
contend that "their museums
have saved treasures that
might otherwise have been lost
forever---destroyed in the wars
and revolutions of 20th-century
China," I want to say, Thank you
very much for your unselfish-
ness. Now, can we have those
back for 21st-century China?
And by the way, it's not "some
Chinese officials" who call for
the artifacts to be returned.
It's the Chinese people.
XIANG ZHUANG
Buffalo, New York
Mandela's Children
Born in Cape Town in 1993,
I belong to one of many South
African families who left the
country to escape the violence
that followed the confusion of
the regime change. I doubt I am
the only one who misses the
friends, family, and country that
were left behind. But every time
I hear stories of the violence
in the country from relatives
and friends who still live there,
I feel any hope that the country
may change slip away. Your
article, "Mandela's Children,"
is incredibly heartening. While
violence and prejudice still exist
in the country, the article's take
on the forgiveness of those
involved in the bomb attack, not
to mention the relaxing racial
attitudes of others, gives me
hope. It's hope that the time
is coming when this beautiful
country can be proud of what
it has achieved---a time when
everyone can really be equal.
Change doesn't happen
overnight, but perhaps some-
time soon South Africa will
have left its troubles behind.
I look forward to that day.
LOUISE FRASER
Tunbridge Wells, England
Before reading this, I was
skeptical about South Africa
overcoming the consequences
of apartheid, to say nothing
about its unemployment rates
and sky-high number of AIDS
cases. After reading this, I
began to understand the role
of South Africa in this world.
It is a beacon of hope for all
the nations torn apart by
violence and hatred.
FABIOLA RODRIGUEZ
Texcoco, Mexico
The Big Idea:
Earthquake Engineering
The article proposed wooden-
trussed metal roofs for
reconstruction in the earth-
quake-prone Port-au-Prince
area. I live in a small Turks
and Caicos community that
is roughly 30 percent ethnic
Haitian, so all residents of the
village were affected by the
Haitian earthquake. Some
American friends recommend-
ed that the Haitians rebuild
their homes with wood-frame
roofs instead of concrete.
But in Haiti, the owner of such
a house is perceived as poor.
Concrete roofs are preferred
as a status symbol in a country
where conspicuous consump-
tion is hard to come by. Lighter
roofs are more practical for
economic and safety reasons,
but any imported ideas for
future improvements must
pass often unexpected tests
of local cultures.
B. NAQQI MANCOS
Kew, Turks and Caicos Islands
June 2010